Chapter Thirty-Five
I didn’t sleep.
Not really.
I closed my eyes, lay still, and let the quiet settle around me—but my mind never fully let go. It hovered somewhere between rest and awareness, like I was standing guard over something invisible.
Over myself.
That was new.
Before, sleep had been an escape. A place where everything blurred, softened, slipped out of my control.
Now?
That wasn’t an option anymore.
Because control wasn’t something I could turn off.
Not if I wanted to keep it.
My eyes opened slowly, the dim light of early morning stretching across the room. For a moment, everything felt still again.
Balanced.
Held in place.
And then—
I felt it.
Not closer.
Not stronger.
Just… there.
Exactly where it was supposed to be.
Waiting.
“You didn’t move,” I murmured q
